For a cleaner Mediterranean by the year 2020This initiative is funded by the European Commission through DG EuropeAid.
For a cleaner Mediterranean by the year 2020For a cleaner Mediterranean by the year 2020A two-day regional training course on “Ecosystem-based management in the Mediterranean”, took place in Athens on 15-16 December 2011. It was organized by the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE) and WWF MedPO, in collaboration with UNEP/MAP, within the framework of the EU funded Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme. It was hosted by the University of Athens (UoA) and supported by the Hellenic Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change.
The Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme organized a 2.5-day training with forty three participants from Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian NGOs and Local Authorities in Hammamet, Tunisia (9-11 December 2011). Most of the trainees have already been dealing with environmental challenges linked to industrial pollution, waste water and municipal waste in their localities.
On 14 December 2011, the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE) and UNEP/MAP’s Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production (CP/RAC) co-organized a Mediterranean workshop on how events can be organized in line with sustainability principles. Both the EU funded Horizon 2020 CB/MEP and the Strategic Partnership for the Mediterranean Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (MedPartnership) supported the workshop as well as the development of the main tool used, the Sustainable Events Toolkit for the Mediterranean.
Through the Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme, twenty two mid-career water professionals from Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia were trained in the first days of the month (5-7 December 2011) on recharging aquifers with treated (waste)water within an integrated water resources management framework. It is generally considered to be an attractive technology for further ‘polishing’ of wastewater treatment effluents to promote water reuse as well as to augment groundwater aquifers.
More than 60 academics, professionals and experts from Universities, relevant Ministries and NGOs from Albania, Algeria, Croatia, Cyprus, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Montenegro, Morocco, occupied Palestinian territory, Tunisia, Turkey, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands participated in a two-day intensive course on how Mediterranean University curricula should effectively address the Horizon 2020 priority areas (municipal solid waste, urban wastewater, industrial emissions and of course environmental integration).
The objective of the latest national training course held in Ramallah on 22-24 November 2011 under the Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/ Mediterranean Environment Programme, was to increase the trainees’ understanding of the complex and multidimensional challenges of Integrated Sustainable Waste Management (ISWM) and develop their skills to allow for appropriate decision-making on ISWM options with emphasis on appropriate technologies and methodologies.
On 7-9 December 2011, in Casablanca, Morocco, H2020 CB/MEP organised a regional workshop with thirty participants from most Mediterranean countries, the main objective of which was to increase the trainees’ understanding of the challenges and opportunities when allowing for private sector participation in the field of waste management and develop their skills to allow them for appropriate decision making in this regard.
Sixteen (16) Mediterranean Banks and more than thirty (30) policy makers from Ministries that are key drivers in the transition process from conventional economies to green economies throughout the region, participated in an intensive Horizon 2020 training last week dedicated to Green Banking (22-23 November 2011, Barcelona). This was the first training of its kind in the Mediterranean region with trainees from Albania, Algeria, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Montenegro, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Tunisia and Turkey. As acknowledged by the participants themselves, it provided the setting and inspiration to continue the discussions and learning process initiated during these 2 days.
